Patrick D'Rozario, CSC (; born 1 October 1943) is a Bangladeshi prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dhaka from 2011 to 2020.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

appointed him as a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 2016. Patrick D'Rozario is the very first Roman Catholic cardinal from Bangladesh. He led other dioceses in Bangladesh from 1995 to 2010.

Biography

Patrick D'Rozario was born on 1 October 1943 in Padrishibpur,

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now part of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He took his vows as a member of the

Congregation of Holy Cross The Congregation of Holy Cross (), abbreviated CSC, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in 1837 by Basil Moreau, in Le Mans, France. Moreau also founded the Marianites of Holy Cross for women, n ...

on 14 June 1962 and was ordained a priest by the

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly on 8 October 1972. On 21 May 1990,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed D'Rozario the first Bishop of

Rajshahi Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...

, a diocese newly created from the Diocese of Dinajpur. He received his episcopal consecration on 12 September 1990 from Bishop Theotonius Gomes of Dinajpur. On 3 February 1995, Pope John Paul named him Bishop of

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

. On 25 November 2010, he was appointed

Coadjutor Archbishop The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

of Dhaka by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. On 22 October 2011, he succeeded Archbishop

Paulinus Costa Paulinus Costa (19 October 1936 – 3 January 2015) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the archdiocese of Dhaka from 2005 to 2011. Career Costa was born in Gazipur, Bangladesh. He was ordained as a priest on 21 December 1963. He was appointed ...

as Archbishop of Dhaka. As president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh, he attended the Synod on the Family in October 2014. He has also served as Chair of the Governing Body of

Notre Dame College, Dhaka Notre Dame College, Dhaka (), also known as NDC, is a catholic higher secondary and degree level educational institution founded and managed by the priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Upon th ...

. Pope Francis raised D'Rozario to the rank of cardinal at a consistory held on 19 November 2016. He was given the rank of Cardinal-Priest and assigned the titular church of

Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e Santi Martiri Canadesi Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e dei Santi Martiri Canadesi (, " Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament and the Canadian Martyrs") is the Roman Catholic national church of Canada, located at 46, Via Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Rome. Descrip ...

. He was the second member of his order to join the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

, after

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was an American writer. He was one of America's most prolific writers of Short story, short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'H ...

, Archbishop of Philadelphia, in 1958. Francis made him a member of the

Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development () is a dicastery of the Roman curia. The Vatican announced the creation of the dicastery on 31 August 2016 and it became effective 1 January 2017. Cardinal Peter Turkson was named its fi ...

on 23 December 2017. Pope Francis accepted D'Rozario's resignation as Archbishop of Dhaka on 30 September 2020.

References

External links

*
Catholic Hierarchy

Holy Cross Congregation
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Rozario, Patrick Living people 1943 births Roman Catholic archbishops of Dhaka 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Bangladesh Cardinals created by Pope Francis Congregation of Holy Cross bishops Congregation of Holy Cross cardinals Bangladeshi cardinals Anglo-Indian people Notre Dame College, Dhaka alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bangladesh Bangladeshi Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Chittagong Roman Catholic bishops of Rajshahi People from Barisal District